Creating Autoresponder Emails

Overview

Our Marketing Automation feature is a powerful tool for connecting with people who submit entries to your lists via forms on your ShortStack campaign. With Marketing Automation, you can create emails to send to your list, schedule those emails to send now or in the future, and set up autoresponder emails which send immediately after someone submits an entry to a ShortStack form.

This article covers setting up an autoresponder email to send to entrants after form submission. If you are looking to create emails to send to your list which send immediately or at a specific date/time, check out this doc.

Getting There

There are two ways to access to the Email Builder - via the Emails link in in the main menu or via the Campaign Builder.

Via the Main Menu:

Log in to Shortstack.

Click Emails in the main menu/navigation bar.

Click New Email within the My Emails area.

Choose the Autoresponder Email option.

Via the Campaign Builder:

Open the Campaign Builder.

Click the Email icon in the upper right corner of the Campaign Builder.

Click the pencil icon to the right of the list for which you wish to create an autoresponder email.

NOTE: If you have added multiple Form Widgets to your campaign, there may be more than one list displayed.

NOTE: If you are looking to create emails to send to your list which send immediately or at a specific date/time, check out this doc.

Set Up An Autoresponder Email

There are several, easy-to-follow steps in the autoresponder email setup process. Follow the process below, and you'll setup your first email in no time.

Step 1: Choose a Company Profile

A Company Profile is necessary for CAN-SPAM Act compliance (learn more here). The Company Profile consists of the business name, the business address and the business industry. You can create multiple Company Profiles under one account.

To setup your first Company Profile:

Click the Create a Company Profile button.

Enter the Company Profile details.

Click the blue Save & Select button.

Click the blue Continue button.

To use the current Company Profile:

Verify that the details on display are accurate.

Click the blue Continue button.

To update the current Company Profile:

Click the Edit button.

Update the Company Profile details.

Click the blue Select button to save your changes and use this Company Profile.

Click the blue Continue button.

To choose a different, existing Company Profile:

Click the Choose Another button.

Click the Company Profile you would like to use.

Verify that the Company Profile details are correct.

Click the blue Select button to use this Company Profile, or click All Profiles to choose a different profile and repeat steps 2-4.

Click the blue Continue button.

To add a new Company Profile:

Click the Choose Another button.

Click the blue Add New Profile button.

Enter the Company Profile details.

Click the blue Save & Select button.

Click the blue Continue button.

Step 2: Choose a List

Next, you will choose the entry list that will receive your emails when new entries are submitted. You can only choose one list for each autoresponder email.

To select a list:

Check the name of the list you wish to select.

Click the blue Continue button when you have finished choosing your list.

Step 3: Choose Email Template

Email templates help to reduce the amount of time you spend setting up your email. We offer several types of templates for a variety of autoresponder emails. You are not required to use a template. If you do not wish to use a template, follow the directions for creating an email from scratch.

To create an email from a template:

Search through the available templates.

Find the template you wish to use.

Click the blue Use This Template button associated with your desired template.

To create an email from scratch:

Click the Skip link.

Step 4: Customize Email in Designer

You can customize your emails as much or as little as you would like. Our templates include sample text, images and merge fields based on best practices for the type of email you wish to send. You can use the WYSIWYG editor and the merge fields we provide to update your email. The WYSIWYG editor also includes a Source Code option under Tools for people who are comfortable using HTML.

To add text:

Click on the box where the email preview is displayed.

Start typing.

To add an image:

Click the Insert/edit image icon on the right side of the toolbox.

Click the Find Image icon in the Source field. This will open your Media Manager.

Locate the image you wish to use within your Media Manager, or upload a new one, and click it so it is highlighted.

Click the blue Select button. The Source field will now include the image URL.

Optional: Add a description to the Image Description field.

Optional: Adjust the size of the image by changing the dimensions in the Dimensions field.

Click the blue Ok button.

Available Merge Fields:

Merge fields are a neat tool you can use to include details the recipient included when they submitted their entry. They are a great way to add a personal touch to the email. Only fields you included in your form will display in the Merge Fields section of the Email Designer. If you are sending emails to recipients gathered by more than one form, only the fields the forms have in common will display as merge field options.

To add a merge field:

Find the merge field you wish to add within the Available Merge Fields section.

Click the merge field button.

Step 5: Add Email Details

The Add Email Details step is one of the most important parts of your email setup process. In this step, you will name your email, add an email subject, set the sender name for the email and choose a from address.

To add Email details:

Click on the box you wish to add information to.

Click the blue Continue button when you are finished filling out the boxes.

Note: Due to DMARC restrictions, you will not be able to set the From Email Address to a @yahoo.com, @ymail.com, @rocketmail.com, or @gmail.com address. You can read more about this here and here.

Step 6: Review Email

The last step in the email setup process is to review your email. The Review page allows you to do just that--review the email. Here, you can review the settings you have applied to the email, along with the email itself; make changes to the email; send a test email; and save and send the email.

To edit the email:

Location the email content you wish to update.

Click the content you wish to update, and you will will be sent to that part of the email setup process.

Make your changes.

Click the blue Continue button to return to the Review page.

To send a Test Email:

Click the Send Test Email button.

Enter the email address you wish to send the test to in the box below Send To Email Address -- the email address associated with your account will display by default.

Click the blue Send Email button.

Once you are satisfied with your email, click the blue Save & Send button. After you click Save & Send, you're all set!

Edit an Autoresponder Email

Editing an autoresponder email will change the content that all entrants after the changes are made to the email see. People who entered before the edits were made will not receive a new email with the updated content.

To edit an autoresponder email:

Click the pencil icon beside the email you wish to edit.

Find the email content you wish to update.

Click the content you wish to update, and you will will be sent to that part of the email setup process.

Make your changes.

Click the blue Continue button to return to the Review page.

Click the blue Save & Schedule button.

Stop/Delete an Autoresponder Email

There may be a point where you want to stop an autoresponder email from sending to new entrants. To do this, you will delete the autoresponder email.

To delete an autoresponder email:

Navigate to the My Emails area.

Find the automated email you wish to stop.

Click the Delete Email icon (an X) on the right.

CAN-SPAM Act Compliance

The United States CAN-SPAM Act created a set of rules for entities sending commercial email. One part of the CAN-SPAM Act requires companies sending commercial emails to tell users where they are located, which is why we ask you to choose a Company Profile for your email. The name and address from the Company Profile you choose will appear at the bottom of your email. To comply with the portion of the CAN-SPAM Act where users must be given the ability to opt-out of emails, we also include an opt-out link at the bottom of the email.

Adding/Updating the SPF Record

If you are having deliverability problems ("Unverified Sender" error, email goes to junk, etc) when you try to test your email for the first time, it's likely because your email domain has not given our servers permission to send emails on its behalf. To fix this issue, you need to add or modify an SPF record on your domain. You will need to go into your settings and add the following domain:

campaign-mail-1.com

For more information on how to add an SPF record, here are the help docs on how to do so for some common domain providers: